The Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival is in residence at East Carolina University. Tickets are $25 general admission and $10 for students. They are available on the web at ecuarts.com or by calling 252-328-1268.

The festival brings world-class musicians to Eastern North Carolina, along with master classes, interactive community outreach, a children’s residency, Next Generation residencies, Next Gen on the Road tours and the Four Seasons Family Night.

Renowned Christian recording artist Paul Saik is featured in a Christmas concert fundraiser for the RiverTowne Players on Sunday.

The 3 p.m. concert is in the Centenary United Methodist Church sanctuary. Admission is $15. Tickets are available at the Bank of the Arts on Middle Street in New Bern or by calling 638-2577.

Admission is $17 in advance, $19 at the door, with students and active duty military admitted for $10. The show is sponsored by Elite Feet.

Ratio Theatre continues its second play of the 2013-2014 season with “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket” by Peter Parnell this week.

Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cullman Performance Hall in the N.C. History Center. Tickets are $25 per person, with students admitted for $10. Tickets can be purchased online at ratiotheatre.org or at the Ratio Box Office at 901 Pollock St., New Bern.

The play features the largest cast that Ratio has ever assembled and includes six professional actors from New York City, Asheville and the Triangle area of North Carolina.

Here is a sampling of the other top events of the week:

The Craven-Pamlico Christian Coalition meets Monday at Golden Corral in New Bern at 7 p.m.

There are two speakers — state Sen. Norman Sanderson, R-Pamlico, and Tami Fitzgerald of the N.C. Values Coalition.

Sanderson will give an overview of this past legislative session and a preview of 2014 short session. Fitzgerald will address a number of issues facing North Carolina in the upcoming year with a review of the past two years. She will also give an update on what’s going on regarding social issues in the courts and provide information about the N.C. Values Coalition.

New Bern-Craven County Public Library presents special programing Monday and Tuesday. The subjects include a book discussion Monday and a special Tuesday program titled “The Magic of Reading.”

“Let’s Talk About It” returns Monday with “Picturing America: Land of Opportunity” at 7 p.m.

This final session features the novel “Dreaming in Cuban” by Christina Garcia.

The Tuesday reading program is at 7 p.m. in the Hayden H. Jones Auditorium at the Johnson Street library in New Bern.

Learn the secrets of one of the world’s best and most famous readers — Benjamin Franklin — as he discusses his life, achievements and his favorite hobby — reading.

Space is limited. Tickets are available now. For more information, call the library at 638-7807.

“Saturday Afternoon at the Movies” features “42 — The Jackie Robinson Story.” It is the story of his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey. The movie is rated PG-13. It is free, with popcorn and lemonade at 2:15 p.m.

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The local chapter of Mended Hearts, a support group for patients with heart-related conditions, will host a community education session on Tuesday at 8 a.m. in the auditorium at CarolinaEast Medical Center in New Bern.

This meeting, which should last about one hour, is open to the public and offered at no cost as a community service of CarolinaEast Medical Center and Mended Hearts.

Dr. Michael Casciello, a cardiologist with CCHC Heart and Vascular Specialists, will lead an informational session and answer questions about heart failure and its causes as well as tools for prevention and available treatments.

For more information, contact the Cardiac Rehabilitation department at CarolinaEast Rehabilitation Hospital at 633-8609 or email mdunlap@carolinaeasthealth.com.

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Kent Clizbe, author of “Willing Accomplices” and a former CIA officer, will speak to the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association Tuesday at The BridgePointe Hotel and Marina in New Bern.

According to the association, he has worked in counter-intelligence, done extensive liaison work with foreign intelligence services, speaks several languages, including Arabic, and served as a private contractor after 9-11.

His talk is at 7 p.m. and is titled “Is Political Correctness Destroying America?”

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“Explorations in The ARTS” welcomes North Carolina Symphony Resident Conductor William Henry Curry on Wednesday evening at Craven Community College.

Curry shares his life and work as an accomplished composer. Joining him will be some special musical guests.

Tickets are $10 general admission or $5 for Craven Community College students. Call 638-7200.

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Pamlico County Library has a number of events this week, including a 10 a.m. Storytime Outreach — Headstart on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Bayboro library.

At 3 p.m. the same day, the Junior Craft Club makes stockings for needy children.

Page 3 of 4 - Bring a small unwrapped toy to put in the stocking. The stockings will be donated to the annual “Toys for Pamlico Kids” drive held by the Pamlico County Chamber of Commerce.

Preschool Storytime is Friday at 10 a.m., with stories, puppets, crafts and other activities.

At 6:15 p.m. Friday, the Book to Film Series presents “Paranoia,” a high-stakes thriller, based on the best-seller by Joseph Finder. Books for this movie are available at the library.

The Junior Craft Club stocking-making continues on Saturday at 10 a.m.

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The Jones County Department of Social Services will distribute USDA surplus commodities such as canned pork, pears, cranberry juice, green beans, green peas and beef stew on Thursday and Friday.

It is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jones County Civic Center, south of Trenton on N.C. 58.

For further information about eligibility or the program, call 448-2581 for 448-7581.

The airport is in New Bern at 200 Terminal Drive. Guests can share cake and coffee.

The event is free. Call 638-8591 or visit coastalcarolinaairport.com on the web.

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The Tryon Palace African-American Lecture Series presents “High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America” on Thursday.

The free 7 p.m. program is in Cullman Performance Hall at the N.C. History Center in New Bern.

Acclaimed cookbook author Jessica B. Harris has spent much of her life researching the food and foodways of the African Diaspora. “High on the Hog” is the culmination of years of her work, and the result is a most engaging history of African-American cuisine.

Harris is the author of 10 cookbooks and she has written extensively about the culture of Africa in the Americas, lectured widely and made numerous television appearances. She is a professor at Queens College and consults at Dillard University in New Orleans.

This event continues the yearlong theme at Tryon Palace of Fresh from the Past: Food and Culture in Eastern North Carolina.

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The Coastal Women’s Shelter has a Wine Tasting Charity Gala on Friday at The Trawl Door in Oriental.

The 6 p.m. event is open to the public. There will be appetizers and a variety of wines.

Silent auctions and raffles are included to raise funds for the Coastal Women’s Shelter. Tickets are $30 and are at Croakertown in Oriental, behind Denton’s Pharmacy, or from Sally Belangia at First Citizens Bank. Call 671-6129.

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Pamlico County Fishes and Loaves hosts a food drive Saturday at Pamlico County grocery stores.

Page 4 of 4 - It is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Donations can be dropped off at the Town and Country in Oriental; Belangias in Arapahoe; and at the Food Lion and Piggly Wiggly stores in Grantsboro. All food and monetary donations will go to support the food pantry.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or Charlie.hall@newbernsj.com